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Post by yanniskusogaki on Jan 27, 2011 3:58:49 GMT
Soooo I suppose that's a greenhorn question but I have to ask it.I know fullers make the blade lighter,but do they make it stronger?I read some wikipedia stuff just some minutes ago about stress distribution but I'm still kinda confused.I mean If I want to block and parry on the flat is it fuller or no fuller for me?
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Post by chrisperoni on Jan 27, 2011 4:06:28 GMT
I know they aid in strengthening the blade by giving it and 'i' beam shape.
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Lunaman
Senior Forumite
Posts: 3,974
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Post by Lunaman on Jan 27, 2011 4:16:20 GMT
No they don't. An I-beam isn't stronger than a solid bar of the same dimensions. It's just very strong for its WEIGHT.
A fuller is similar. A fuller does not make a blade stronger, it just makes it lighter without sacrificing much strength.
These discussions get really murky real quick, but the points of contention are often: What do you mean by "strong"? In some respects, a blade with less mass can be "stronger" than one with more, like being more flexible and absorbing impacts like a spring. In others, like rigidity, a blade with mass taken away with a fuller will be less "strong." In either case, a fuller is always being spoken of as something that "removes metal" from a full sword, but that's not how fullers were used--if a sword was supposed to have a fuller, it simply wasn't a finished sword until the fuller was added. With big fullers, metal wasn't removed at all--they were forged in, in which the purpose was to give you a WIDER blade without adding any mass and bulk (viking blades for instance).
It's often easier for me to handle these concepts by thinking of a fuller as something that helps control mass distribution as just a part of a complete sword design. It is not something that is "added on" like a turbocharger. An excellent sword designed and made without a fuller will not be improved by adding one. And an excellent sword designed and made with a fuller will not by improved by making one to the same dimensions without a fuller.
If you want to block with the flat of your sword (as you should) then just get a well-designed sword. It'll be optimized for its purpose whether or not there's a fuller present.
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Post by Anuan on Jan 27, 2011 5:39:17 GMT
That is the best explanation of fullers I've ever heard/read, and much more accurate than the usual ones given. Have a karma.
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Post by yanniskusogaki on Jan 27, 2011 11:09:45 GMT
That was indeed well placed...I think...
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Post by templar on Jan 27, 2011 12:22:52 GMT
I agree; the best explanation of fullers I have seen. A well earned karma.
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Post by Anders on Jan 27, 2011 12:29:04 GMT
I recall reading an article about this. Hang on, let me find it... *googles* Here we go!So, from what I understand, Luna had the basic gist right; Cutting a fuller in a blade doesn't make it stiffer then before, but a fullered blade is stiffer then a non-fullered blade of the same mass. |
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